Redemption
by Kiliko
Summary: Timberwolf and Dr. Mar Londo reestablish their father-son connection. Chapter 4 up!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Legion of Superheroes

It is funny how some of the worst things happen on the best days. It was bright and sunny outside, the middle of June, when we got the call. Someone had located my father at last, and because the Science Police had expanded their borders, we could finally nab him, which seemed like good fortune. Except…

I keep thinking, what if things had been different? What if the experiments had never happened? But things weren't different, and they did happen, which left me with a lot of unanswerable questions. They all bounced around in my head as we went on our way. What should have comforted me was that the one who had hurt me would finally be in jail. Why, then, did I feel so depressed? Why…

Bouncing Boy must have noticed the look on my face, because he asked, "What's the matter? You look like you've got a stomachache or something." Good guess, but it wasn't my stomach that hurt. I don't know why I'm so upset, Dear Father will be getting what was eventually coming to him in a few minutes-again, I should be beyond happy.

I never really understood the way my mind worked, neither before nor after the experimenting mess.

I'd never been bitter, just dark, but it was for good reason. My parents had one nasty divorce when I was about three. I wonder if he was messing with her, too. Who knows how people get so sick in the head-my father used to be brilliant, I'll give him that-but he had enough presence of mind to hide for so long, so he probably isn't all crazy.

There were some things he never did. I got presents or birthday from relatives, but I never had a birthday party. Ever. **(Pay attention, this will crop up later in the story!) **Then there were the things he started doing, like the day he started messing around with me. He had called me down to the lab, and I was happy because I'd never been down there before.

To this day, I wish I hadn't heard him.

I saw the planet in the distance before, now we were on the ground. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to get out, but of course I didn't have a choice. My mind kept on spinning as we set out on foot-the Science Police met us and wanted to walk so that he wouldn't see us from the sky and try to escape. Surprisingly, we had no trouble getting from point A to point B, which was good-I really didn't feel like fighting. The rest of the day was a complete blur. We surprised him pretty good; he didn't know about the expansion, and he didn't fight when they drug him out in handcuffs because he was trudging along with an awestruck look on his face.

And before long, we were back on the ship, trading high-fives for a successful mission. Bouncy had even let Brainy drive so that he could party with the others. I ran away and hid in the back so I could hear myself think.

And I sat there alone. Occasionally someone would come to talk, but they always left after a few awkward words. I was glad to be alone, it was natural for me to be that way and the circumstances didn't make it any better.

And them a thought came to me out of the blue, so out of the question that I had to wonder if someone had put it there.

Was there any chance, when he got out of prison, that we could make up?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Legion of Superheroes.

I was lying in bed, that night, thinking about life, when I happened to think about family. Suddenly something came back to me-I remembered playing catch with him one day. I had stopped paying attention to the ball to look at something, and the ball hit me in the eye. Of course, I rolled on the ground moaning, and Dad actually came to look and see if I was okay. It was a few weeks before the experiments started. It was the last time I ever felt like he loved me. I sighed. He hadn't even been sentenced yet, and I was already feeling messed up and sorry.

And speaking of the trial…

Only I had to be there. But that was what bothered me. I kept wondering if I was going to do something stupid, like tackle him while I witnessed, or burst into tears, or just totally lose it altogether. I didn't really want to go anymore. At moment I thought of asking someone to come with me. But the trial was tomorrow, and everyone else was asleep. I guess you can call me nocturnal. But it was really late to be up, even for me, because I'm usually snoring by 12:30 am.

It was now 2:45 am.

It wasn't that I didn't want to sleep. I was so tired I was about to die. But I felt horrible. Somehow I kept thinking it was my fault, I wasn't good enough for him, and he had to improve on me. This was when I decided to turn to my trusty source of comfort-chocolate.

I _knew_ I shouldn't. Part of my canine DNA forbade me to eat the stuff. It didn't kill me-my human DNA got in the way of that-but it still made me really sick. But I was willing to feel like crap so I could stop feeling like crap. I have a drawer on my nightstand that's full of the stuff. Usually I give it away. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I pulled out a handful and gorged.

I will spare you the gruesome details of what followed.

I was sick as, well, a dog. I puked until I couldn't move. I don't even know if anyone visited me or not. I felt light-headed and dizzy…

And the next morning, I woke up on the bathroom floor, with Bouncy standing over me. He was shaking his head. My immediate response was to throw up again. He sighed. "Best time to make yourself sick, after midnight." Then he left. I got washed up and put on fresh clothes. Bouncy came and got me, and I followed him out.

And again, as I sat in the seat waiting to take off, I wondered…

Why?


	3. Chapter 3

I completely spaced out once we got going. I mean, I wasn't thinking about anything. And it wasn't that peaceful kind of spacing out either. It was dread. Pure, unadulterated dread. I didn't want to go, I never wanted to, I just wished it would all just go away.

But it wouldn't.

"Timberwolf?"

Curse this enhanced hearing. "What?" "We've landed. It's time to get out." Oh, joy. "But I don't _want _to do this. I want to stay in here and sulk." "Quit griping." "I like griping!" My ears picked up a sound from outside the cruiser. Clicking. Continous clicking. _Cameras clicking!_ I'd forgotten about the press. And I really didn't want to talk to them. It was bad enough that I had to go to this dumb trial. But my dad probably had to go through the same storm. His story-and mine-would be everywhere. The whole universe would know that he was a creep. Just that thought was enough to make me feel better, if just a little. But I still wasn't saying anything to the press.

* * *

I had to sit through the whole thing. I was starting to feel a lot better now, seeing all those guys cross-examine my father. Man, they were really _nailing_ him. He had gone bright red, sweating, scared. He knew he was in _serious _trouble. Plus it looked like I'd never get to testify. But it was too good to be true. I did have to testify, what's worse, all they really had to do was _look_ at me. But they made me speak anyway. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

All these years and the oath is still the same.

I nodded yes. I told them everything I knew. My worst fears didn't come true, not in the courtroom. I cried a little, who wouldn't? My mom ws in the jury. I waved at her from the witness stand. She didn't wave back right away because she was busy looking at my dad with a scorching look that clearly wished a slow, painful death. It was making him nervous, and me too. I wouldn't want her looking at me like that, for sure. I'd be running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. All the drama was saved for after the trial. Dad was sentenced to 20 years. Funnily enough, he got a chance of parole. My mom didn't like that, I didn't care. But he was crying, he didn't want to be locked up for so long. My mom didn't like that either.

She leapt at him, screaming,"WHY ARE YOU CRYING?!!! YOU SICKO YOU TURNED MY SON INTO A MONSTER AND YOU'RE CRYING BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!!!" He whimpered, in reply, maybe because she'd kicked him in the shins. "Maam, you're going to have to calm down-" She wouldn't calm down. She got worse. She condemned the entire court, saying that they were making a mistake, giving someone like him a chance to continue his evil work. She attacked the bailiff and got in the judge's face, and in the end, both of my parents ended up going to jail. Figures.

Boy, my family is a bunch of losers.

Bouncing Boy came back in time to pick me up before I got completely swamped by the press. Given my appearance, and the look on my face, however, I didn't have much to contend with. He'd picked up some fast food and tried to share it with me, but I wasn't very hungry for french fries. Truthfully I wasn't hungry for anything at all.

* * *

Was this a good chapter? I'm not sure, but I'm thinking this is kind of short. All my chapters are short. But they're good, aren't they? tell me!


	4. Chapter 4

Cham's POV

It's been four hours since Timberwolf came back from his dad's trial. When they came back to HQ, Bouncing Boy came out first. I tried to ask how he was, but Bouncy just shook his head. "See for yourself."

Timberwolf came out like he was the one in trouble. Head hung, he power-walked past everyone in the room like there was no one there. He locked himself in his room and he's been in there since. Lightning Lad and some of the others tried to get him to come out, but the closest they got was LL hearing something on in there. But he couldn't tell was it was. He said it sounded like he was saying something, but he couldn't make it out. I'm glad he didn't-I caught a glimpse of his face as he was running away from us, and-I thought I saw tears? If watching anyone else cry makes my skin crawl, watching him would kill me.

So I'm in my room, watching TV, and he comes to the door. I didn't notice him at first, but I had that feeling, you know? Like I was being watched. I turned around and he was watching me. There _were_ tears in his eyes, but his face was totally blank. No emotion of any kind showed in his face-and it scared the crap out of me.

But I tried not to show it. "Umm…do you need something?"

He just stared at me. Movies are made of this stuff. We just looked at each other for what was like, forever. Then he just walked away. Maybe I was supposed to hug him or something? The thought immediately made me feel bad, but then I don't know what he would have done. Maybe he'd have killed me. Maybe he would have started crying again. Either way, I would have died.

Lightning Lad's POV

I hate doing the late shift. I would rather be asleep, or at least getting some chill time, but no, they've got to stick me with the late shift. By 'they', I mean CB. He's my friend-well, sometimes-you'd think he'd know me better.

But there's one thing I like about it. That's when all the drama happens. Not crime drama, 'we' drama. Like, every night there's somebody getting caught doing whatever. And I get to know about it. Just because the 'keep secrets safe' thing is part of our oath doesn't mean most of us follow it. Believe me. I was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs, when Cos walked into the control room and asked me where Timberwolf was. He'd locked himself in his room once he got home and I _think_ he might've been crying. But I didn't tell anyone-I do _try_ not to gossip, after all. I wanted to tell him he was probably still locked in his room, but something told me that wasn't the answer. Cos must've read the look on my face, because he said, "Cham told me he left his room 3 hours ago. Nobody's seen him since. I would just leave him alone, but he looks like he might need somebody to talk to." I don't know, after what he's just been through, if I were him I wouldn't want to talk to anybody. Not immediately, anyway. But I didn't say anything, I just shook my head. "Well," he said, "we've got to go find him. I don't want him to do anything stupid."

"Like?"

"Use your imagination." I didn't want to. There were too many possibilities, too many stupid things anybody in a state of mental chaos could do, even more for someone like him.

"Let's go, then."

Cosmic Boy's POV

Timberwolf's gone missing. Everyone available fanned out in New Metro to look for him. Usually it's not a big deal when someone decides to go AWOL, if they don't have anything to do, but I'm worried about him. This is different from when he ran when he was framed for murder. He was a fugitive then. We went after him because he hurt someone. Now I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself. It's funny, usually I'm not too worried about others' welfare. All I know is that if it were me, I don't what I'd do. He just seems so…lost. That's understandable. That's what I was thinking about when I got a call from Cham. He said that he'd just seen Timberwolf going east, away from HQ, He'd lost sight of him after that, but presumed that he was heading toward the bridge. We headed in that general direction, hoping he wasn't going to prove me right.

Timberwolf's POV

I've never in my life felt so numb. It's as if I somehow pinched a nerve and can still move but I can't feel anything. I don't even know where I'm going; I just started walking. I think I might be heading toward the bridge, from what I can hear, but that wasn't my intention; just aimless walking. I thought the cold outside would shock some feeling back into me. I was wrong. This fur, another wonderful gift that my father gave me. Awesome.

I must have a pretty ugly look on my face. I passed some guy on the bridge and it looked like it was all he could do not to run. There's a strong wind blowing up here. I can barely see for my hair that keeps blowing in my face. I jumped as thunder rumbled overhead. _Great_. I hate getting caught in the rain. Soon it arrived, heavy, cold drops that instantly soaked everything, including me. It achieved what I had been trying to do all along-I was cold now. It did bring the feeling back, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for. Hopefully no one could tell from the rain. I realized that I'd been gone for awhile. Somebody should have tried to contact me by now, or try to find me, but I don't hear anything but the rain…

…it's almost like I'm alone.


End file.
